Dining in Disneyland: How They Make World of Color Caramel Apples

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Dining in Disneyland columnist, Heather Sievers, walks us through what goes into making one of those beautiful World of Color caramel apples in Disneyland! Oh, and she samples one on our behalf as well

If you read my posts regularly, you know I am a sucker for Marceline’s in Downtown Disney. That giant candy kitchen window is my favorite thing to check when I go to the parks. You never know what they will be making. I’ve seen everything from cupcakes to chocolate dipped strawberries, and just about every type of Disney caramel apple they make. Yet, I had never seen them making the World of Color apples until just this past week. And, until I did, I had no idea what an art form making one of these little beauties was.

Perhaps the Most Beautiful Treat on Earth!

The first thing I noticed was that there is a “full-time” marshmallow cutter. Disneyland uses large, Kraft Jet Puffed Marshmallows for the ears on all of their Mickey & Minnie caramel apples. This woman spends her time, scissors in hand, cutting marshmallows in half to create the ears.

Barbara, The Marshmallow Cutter

I’m sure Barbara is a precise marshmallow cutter; but the skills that apple maker extraordinaire, Tony, has will blow your mind.

Tony starts by attaching the halved marshmallows with melted white chocolate to a pre-dipped caramel apple. He then dips the whole apple into the melted white chocolate.

Dipping the Caramel Coated Apple & Marshmallow Ears

A Coating of White Chocolate

Right after the “dip,” he begins working his magic. Starting with the red sanding sugar, Tony works his way through a rainbow of sugars: red, orange, yellow, green, blue & purple.

He uses a small spoon and makes perfect stripes of colored sugar until the white chocolate is no longer visible. He does this without measuring or guidelines, a perfect stripe every time!

The End of the Rainbow

After each color is represented on the apple, he goes back to red and works his way through the rainbow again touching up any thinly-colored spots.

Retouching the Sanding Sugar

Not only had I never seen these apples being made, but I’d also never purchased one. In general, I love caramel apples, as do my live-in taste-testers, but I am not a fan of walking around with one and eating it off of the stick. And if it’s messy for myself as an adult, there’s no way I’m going to hand one over to a child. At almost $10 a pop, if they dropped it, well, I’d probably make them eat it off of the ground.

Therefore, we decided it was best to pick one up on the way out and take our business home with us.

World of Color Caramel Apple Display

To Go Packaging

This worked out perfectly, as we were able to cut it up and share it amongst the four of us. It’s much easier to justify the price of $9.95 when it’s being shared by a family of four.

Out of the Package

Side View

Side View

Top View

After my little photo shoot, I grabbed a giant knife and cut the apple into pieces. We each got to have a nice sized sample and everyone agreed that it was delicious. The ratio of caramel and chocolate to apple is perfect. They are thin layers, so it’s not overwhelmingly sweet.

The sweet caramel and white chocolate paired with the tart Granny Smith apple is a perfect combination. I will admit that the sugar can be messy. I recommend eating it over a plate or napkin.

World of Color Caramel Apple Cross Section

Overall, I highly recommend giving the World of Color caramel apple a try. It’s beautiful and it tastes yummy too! On a side note, I’m pretty sure that Tony did not make the apple we purchased. The lines were not nearly as perfect as the ones I saw on “his” apples.

Have you sampled a World of Color apple or another caramel apple in Disney parks? Let us know what your favorites are in the comments section below!

They may not be rainbow, but Goofy’s at Downtown Disney in Orlando has a variety of lots of premade fresh caramel apples. They are excellent and the last one we had was coated in all kinds of different chocolate stuff. They add different kinds of toppings, too. We never try to eat it there, either. We take it with us and cut it up later to share!

I was one of the lucky winners of the World of Color meet-up in August last year. They gave these apples away as a gift to us and were first created especially for this event. While speaking with Heather Hust Rivera (former manager of Disneyland social media) and Mary Niven (Vice President of Disney California Adventure park and Guest Services) at the event, Heather told me that Mary had spied the apples that they had made for the meet-up and asked if they were being sold in the park. When Heather told her no, Mary told her “They’re so gorgeous! They will be now!” Never ate it. It was so gorgeous that I couldn’t bring myself to open the cellophane and chow down. It was a work of art. http://twitpic.com/2jfirk